1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headgear holding apparatus which is used with an embroidery sewing machine and which holds a headgear on which an embroidery is formed by the sewing machine.
2. Related Art Statement
There is known a multiple-head embroidery sewing machine which includes a plurality of sewing heads including respective sewing-bed arms; a worksheet feed member which is moved in an X direction perpendicular to the sewing-bed arms and is also moved in a Y direction perpendicular to the X direction, independent of the X-direction movement thereof; and a plurality of worksheet holding devices each of which is detachably attached to the worksheet feed member and holds a worksheet such that the corresponding sewing head forms an embroidery on the worksheet held thereby. The plurality of worksheet holding devices may be a plurality of headgear holding devices each of which is detachably attached to the corresponding sewing head and holds a headgear (e.g., a cap or a hat) such that the corresponding sewing head forms an embroidery on a frontal portion of the headgear held thereby.
Each of the known headgear holding devices includes a base structure which is movable in the front-rear direction (i.e., Y direction) parallel to the sewing-bed arm of the corresponding sewing head; a rotatable structure which is supported by the base structure such that the rotatable structure is rotatable about an axis line parallel to the Y direction; a headgear holder which holds a headgear on which the sewing head forms stitches and which is detachably attached to the rotatable structure; and a converting device which converts the movement of the worksheet feed member in the X direction, into the rotation of the rotatable structure. The headgear holding devices are disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Document No. 8(1996)-232158. The base structure of each headgear holding device is connected to the worksheet feed member via a connecting device, so that the base structure and the rotatable structure are moved with the feed member in the Y direction.
As the headgear holder, there has been known a normal-range headgear holder which includes a main support member which is detachably attached to the rotatable structure and has a generally rectangular central opening corresponding to a frontal portion (i.e., normal-range embroidery area) of a headgear; and a press member which has a central opening corresponding to that of the support member and presses the frontal portion of the headgear against the support member such that the normal-range embroidery area of the headgear is held between the press member and the support member. After a working person sets a headgear on the support member, he or she engages two engaging members provided on opposite end portions of the press member, with two engaging hooks provided on the support member. Thus, the normal-size embroidery area of the headgear that has a length of about 10 to 12 cm and a width of about 7 cm is tightly stretched by the cooperation of the press member and the support member. The inner surface of the cloth of the frontal portion of the headgear that corresponds to the normal-range embroidery area is backed up by a backing cloth called "core cloth" sewn to the cloth to reinforce the cloth.
Recently, there has been a demand for a large embroidery pattern which is formed in a wide-range embroidery area corresponding to a frontal portion and two temporal portions of a headgear. To this end, there has been developed a wide-range headgear holder which holds only an end portion of a frontal portion of a headgear to which its brim is sewn. In this case, the rotatable structure to which the wide-range headgear holder is attached is rotated by a large angle corresponding to the wide-range embroidery area. Thus, a large embroidery pattern is formed in the frontal and temporal portions of the headgear. Though the frontal portion of the headgear is reinforced by a backing cloth sewn thereto, the entire cup portion of the headgear which is other than its brim and in which the head of a user fits is unbound, i.e., free. That is, the headgear holder does not hold the headgear such that the wide-range embroidery area corresponding to the frontal and temporal portions of the headgear keeps its original, generally part-cylindrical shape. Hence, there has been employed a headgear support member which supports an inner surface of a headgear in predetermined areas on left-hand and right-hand sides of a sewing position where a sewing needle and a loop catcher cooperate with each other to form stitches on the headgear.
However, when the wide-range headgear holder is rotated at a high speed to form stitches on the headgear, a parietal portion of the free cup portion tends to delay from the brim, and a friction resistance is produced between the cloth of the cup portion and the headgear support member. Thus, the cloth of the cup portion tends to be twisted, and wrinkles occur to the cup portion. This leads to lowering the quality of the embroidery pattern formed on the headgear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,560 discloses a headgear holding device which includes a base structure including a headgear support member and a roller-support plate member supporting four first support rollers; a rotatable structure rotatably supported by the four first support rollers; and two second support rollers which are located on left-hand and right-hand sides of the headgear support member and which extend frontward over the front end of the headgear support member. The two second support rollers include respective free tapered end portions which cooperate with each other to support an inner surface of a parietal portion of a headgear held by a wide-range headgear holder attached to the rotatable structure and thereby allow a free cup portion of the headgear to be smoothly rotated. That is, when the headgear holder is rotated for embroidery stitches to be formed on the headgear, the parietal portion of the free cup portion of the headgear does not delay from the brim because the friction produced between the cup portion and the headgear support member is effectively reduced owing to the free tapered end portions of the support rollers.
However, in the headgear holding device disclosed in the above U.S. patent, the headgear support member and the two second support rollers are positioned radially inward from the locus of rotation of the headgear. If otherwise, when a normal-range headgear holder is attached to the rotatable structure in place of the wide-range headgear holder, the engaging members associated with the press member of the normal-range headgear holder interfere with the headgear support member and the second support rollers. Thus, the second support rollers cannot stretch the wide-range embroidery area corresponding to the frontal and two temporal portions of the headgear in the circumferential direction of the free cup portion of the headgear. That is, the cloth of the wide-range embroidery area cannot keep its original generally part-cylindrical shape when the headgear is rotated. Thus, wrinkles tend to occur to the cloth of the wide-range embroidery area, and the quality of the embroidery pattern formed on the headgear is not improved.